Wrecking tool



April 24, 1945. Q f; 5 I 2,374,530

WRECKING TOOL Filed Feb. 5, 1944 Y INVENTOR CARL Fmsmgsn ATTORNEYSPatented Apr. 24, 1945 2,374,530 v v WRECKING 'roor.

, Carl Fiebke, Sr., Wausau, Wis.

Application February 5, 1944, Serial No. 521,213

1 Claim.

This invention appertains to tools and more particularly to 'a novelwrecking tool for facilitating the removal of floor boards, roof boards,siding, and the like, from buildings being torn down. I

I One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide a strong andrugged wrecking tool which will effectively straddle joists, beams orstudding, for effectively engaging under the boards, whereby the boardscan be pried loose with a minimum amount of effort and with a minimumamount of damage to the boards, nails,

etc. I

.Q'F I E showing the tool in side elevation and in opera- .Anothersalient object of my invention is the provision of a wrecking toolembodying a cylindrical fulcrum body having formed thereon an elongatedoperating lever with detachable prongs or lifting fingers for straddlingthe studding or beams for engaging the boards to be removed.

A further important object of my invention is to provide novel means fordetachably associating the lifting fingers or prongs with thecylindrical fulcrum body, whereby the position of the fingers or prongson the body can be reversed whereby the operating lever can beeffectively actuated toward or away from the operator to remove boardsaccording to the position of the operator relative to the boards andbeams.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a wrecking tool ofthe above character, which will be durable and efficient in use, onethat will be simple and easy to manufacture, and one which can be placedupon the market at a reasonable cost;

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel construction, ar-

rangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter morespecifically described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which drawing:

I Figure l is a side,elevational view of my improved wrecking toolshowing one position of the lifting fingers or prongs in full lines.

. Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the fingers orprongs in their reversed position and the tool ready to be actuated.

Figure 3 is a top, plan view of the tool with parts thereof broken awayand in section.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken substantially on theline 4---4 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

. tion is the fact that the fingers or prongs I3 can V Figure 5 is afragmentary, plan view showing 7 the tool in use for removing floorboards.

Figure 6 is a detail, fragmentary, sectional view tive position forremoving floor boards.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter Tgenerally indicates my improved wrecking tool and the same includes asolid cylindrical body I0 which is adapted to be placed against a beam,joist, studding, or the like when the tool is in use. Formed on orsecured to the body I0 is the centrally disposed radially extendingoperating handle or lever II. This handle or lever is relatively long soas to'facilitate the manipulation of the tool. v I The opposite ends ofthe cylindrical body In have formed therein diametrically extendinggrooves I2 which form sockets for detachably receiving the inner ends ofthe lifting prongs or fingers I3. The fingers I3 are detachably held intheir grooves or sockets in any preferred. manner, such as by the use ofscrews I4, which extend through the fingers and into opposite ends ofthe body. -As illustrated, the fingers or prongs also extend radiallyfrom the body, but at an angle to the handle. The forward ends of thefingers or prongs I3 can have their lower faces tapered, as at I5, forfacilitating'their engagement with the parts to be removed. I

In Figures 5 and 6 I have shown one use of my wrecking tool and in thesefigures floor joists I6 support floorboards II. 4

In operation of my tool, the body I0 is placed on the desired joist andthe fingers I3 are shoved under the adjacent floor board II. The handleII is now swung down toward the joist and the fingers will effectivelylift up on the floor board and pry the board loose with a minimum amountof damage to the board, the joist and the nails. As clearly illustratedin these figures, the fingers or prongs will straddle the joist andeffectively engage the board on each side of the joist. One of theimportant features of my invenbe readily removed and the positionthereof reversed so that the tool can be eifectively operated indifferent positions.

As illustrated inFigure 2, the fingers I3 can be removed andrepositioned in the grooves or sockets I2 so that instead of projectingforwardly from the tool, the same will project rearwardly from the tool.Hence, in Figure 1 the fingers are shown extending at an obtuse anglerelative to the handle, while in Figure 2, the same are shown extendingat an acute angle to the handle. In Figure 2 the lever is actuated bypulling action,

2 1 v 7 while in Figure 1 the lever is actuated by pushing action. Thisfacilitates the use of the tool on the inside and outside of a building.

Obviously, more than one groove I 2 can be pro- 7 vided on the oppositeends of the body l0 and 5 Where more than one groove is provided, thegrooves will extend at anangle to one another so that the prongs can bepositioned at various angles to the handle which will be most;advantageous for use by the operator. V 1

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or thescope of my invention, but what I claim as new is: 1 1 A wrecking toolcomprising a cylindrical fulcrum body, a centrally disposed elongatedoperating handle connected with said body and projecting radially fromthe outer face thereof, the

